Looking for Change

Gone are the days when incoming college students were only concerned with their class schedules and weight gain. Now more than ever, freshmen have politics and money on their minds, according to a survey by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute. Check out this Associated Press report for a breakdown of the survey's findings.

LOS ANGELES -- The latest installment of a giant annual survey of college freshmen shows political engagement at a 40-year high, and more students than ever planning to take jobs on the side and settling for second-choice schools.

With last year's historic election heating up, nearly 36 percent of freshmen starting last fall reported frequently discussing politics in the last year, according to the survey by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute. That surpassed the previous high of 34 percent recorded in 1968.

As recently as 2002, fewer than 20 percent of students reported politics were a frequent topic of conversation.

The 43rd annual survey, released Thursday, was given to more than 240,000 incoming four-year college students during orientations from April through October. Most participants filled out paper surveys.

Even before the worst of the recession, students were feeling the national economic pinch. Just under half (49 percent) planned to get a job to meet expenses during college -- the highest figure in the 32 years the survey has asked the question.

Among the survey's other findings:

• The proportion of incoming students calling themselves liberal rose to 31 percent, the highest in 35 years. Another 21 percent called themselves conservative, down from 23 percent in 2007.
• Just under two-thirds (66 percent) support the right to same-sex marriage.
• The proportion of freshmen calling it "essential" or "very important" to help clean up the environment jumped from 22 percent in 2006 to about 30 percent last year. Nearly three-quarters said addressing global warming should be a federal priority.
• Support for legalizing marijuana edged up about 3 points to 41 percent. However, the UCLA authors said their findings "might be less of an indication of permissive marijuana usage and more about how one views government regulation of this area." They noted other research showing only 32 percent of 2008 high school seniors had used marijuana in the last year.

For the complete HERI survey, visit the Higher Education Research Institute.